A repository enables the storage and reuse of information about an enterprise. Such information could be definitional (such as programs, files, and the relationships therebetween), management information (e.g., who can see certain types of information, etc.) and operational information (such as schedules, processes, etc.). In an object-oriented repository, this information is stored as objects that have data (e.g., name, salary, etc.) and behavior (e.g., change salary, etc.). The C++ language, with its object-oriented syntax is well suited as an interface to an object-oriented repository.
In the disclosed embodiment of the present invention, the object-oriented repository includes the capability of interfacing with programs also written in the C language. This service is referred to as C Binding and is disclosed in greater detail in a patent by Paul Koerber for A METHOD FOR MAPPING TYPES IN A MODEL IN AN OBJECT-ORIENTED REPOSITORY TO LANGUAGE CONSTRUCTS FOR A C BINDING FOR THE REPOSITORY, U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,992; which application is assigned to the same assignee hereof.
In order to create a more open environment for the repository, it would be beneficial to provide an interoperability service that allows access to a repository on one platform (e.g., functioning as a Server), and a Client application operating on another platform remote from the Server. The Client application can be written in C or any other language that can access C libraries.